A new project by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities hopes to encourage inter-institutional cooperation and increase equity and college completion at 100 “change-ready” universities.
The APLU’s Center for Public University Transformation plans to bring together 100 universities within 10 “transformation clusters,” or groupings of universities. Through the program, Project Degree Completion, the APLU will work with public research universities to facilitate collaborative progress and determine the most effective ways to address low college completion rates. The Center hopes to find solutions that are applicable across the diverse range of public universities in the United States.
Julia Michaels, director of the Center for Public University Transformation, said the project arose from APLU President Peter McPherson’s conversations with various university presidents and chancellors.
“One thing he noticed is that the conversation has really been shifting from getting students access to college to making sure that they complete college and are successful — not just in academia but also in the workforce — and that they’re well prepared for the jobs that the labor market has to offer,” she said.
The center’s main project right now is the Transformation Cluster Initiative, according to Michaels. The clusters will bring together universities based on a variety of factors, such as location or common priorities, to encourage collaboration.
“One thing that we’ve heard a lot over the years is universities that say, ‘We’re innovating, we know others are innovating, but we just haven’t had the opportunity to share and connect around things of common interest,’” she said. “What these clusters will do is identify needs and priorities and come up with solutions to help.”
Participating universities have yet to be selected, but the center has begun to reach out in a way that differs from similar initiatives. The Transformation Cluster Initiative will have a much more personalized process, as opposed to simply sending out information and having campuses apply to participate.
“We want to make sure that what emerges is of maximum benefit to the universities involved,” she said. “It’s going to be a bit more time consuming, but ultimately will result in a better process in the long run.”
Through individual conversations with each interested university, the center hopes to dig deep and find the important issues, challenges and solutions that have been explored on campus to help shape the program in a way that benefits participants as much as possible, Michaels said.
